


Like Real People Do

by Treetart



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ancient Temples, Canon-Typical Violence, Dad Windu, Enemies to ??? to Lovers, First Kiss, Force Bonds, Inspired by a Hozier Song, Jedi Council - Freeform, Lightsaber Duels, M/M, Maul: is this emotion? Gross, Space Archaeology, but make it jedi, ice planets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:21:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29660280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treetart/pseuds/Treetart
Summary: Jedi Reader is sent by the Jedi Council, and their former Master, to check out an ancient Jedi Temple on a planet in the Outer Rim. Our favorite Sith finds them.
Relationships: Darth Maul/Reader
Comments: 27
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise Shawty

Kark. You knew that craft that just burst into the atmosphere. You really didn’t have time for this. The wound at your side still bled freely. You were hobbling as quickly as you could towards your own craft, which you were annoyed to see was still much further away than you’d like. You really did not have time for another one of Darth Maul’s spars. You had stopped calling them duels months ago, having fought with the Zabrak dozens of times over the course of two years. The first few had been life or death, without a doubt. You were surprised you had even made it out of those, but luckily the Force had seemed to be on your side and found multiple ways to save you. It felt a bit ridiculous, as the initial duels went on, as to why you were each pulled away from the fight. A few times it had been as simple as back up arriving on time, pushing the Sith away with a battleship shoved between the two of you. Another time the ground had crumbled under you, throwing you down several feet onto a ledge that was far enough below that Maul only glared down from the remaining cliff face and left you there. One time, which you remembered with some humor, he had had you back up into a corner with a smug look on his face, only to be called away by his Master at the last moment. You still weren’t sure why he hadn’t finished the job, when your lightsaber had been kicked to the side and your leg injured enough that you wouldn’t be able to get to it before he did. 

After that last real duel, the rest had been borderline friendly, as far as Sith standards go. Maul seemed to know what planets you were on on any given mission, and often pursued you for a quick bout. Before the match could weigh into either favor, he would disappear. You weren’t sure why it had been happening. But sometimes you even looked forward to the interactions. If anything, it was a real test of your skills. You hadn’t been a Jedi Knight for more than two years and you still felt wildly incapable compared to the others that you battled along side. Battling Maul made you feel... confident. If only in your own grasp of the Force and your skills with your lightsaber. You weren’t lacking in skill. You just didn’t feel like you belonged alongside the likes of the Masters that taught you. Regardless of their reassurances that you would grow confident in your abilities with practice. You were not much of a negotiator, or a tactician. You knew how to fight and the Force flowed through you like it was the air in your lungs, the blood in your veins. You knew the Force, and the Force knew you. It hadn’t let you down before. 

Although. Right now you were questioning it’s choices. Why would Maul come now? To this backwater planet where an old Jedi Temple had lay in ruins, your only mission an explorative one. Unfortunately, you had met a large group of locals who had claimed the temple as their own. You hadn’t fought them at all, you actually attempted to communicate that you just wanted to see something and then you’d be on your way. It didn’t seem to translate judging by the way they all raised their weapons and chased you out. You had actually made it out just fine from them, until some idiot with an electro staff came out of nowhere and slammed you in the ribs. A bounty hunter, by the looks of him. Probably here on the same rumor the Jedi were here for. Something valuable was still hidden in that Temple. You would have taken the time to fight the man, but your thoughts turned to the locals. The bounty hunter would not show them any mercy if his goal was a big pay day. You led the mercenary on a wild bantha chase in the surrounding forests, knocking into branches as you went, leaving an obvious trail but staying far head enough that it didn’t matter. He shot you once with a blaster, which landed solidly in your calf. It slowed you down, but you got him away from the ruins and shoved him into a swamp. He had to deal with the local wild life at that point, giving you plenty of time to get back to your ship. 

Or so you thought, now that Darth Maul was on his way. You considered heading back to the locals only for a moment, fearing that the man would only think they were in his way and expendable. You pulled your hand away from your side. The electro staff had done you dirty, ripping at the thin skin covering your ribs. It looked worse than it was, but you had been running with the wound for at least three standard hours now. You were exhausted. Your leg ached. You didn’t have time to deal with this. You especially didn’t have time to deal with him. Your ship was still too far away. Faintly, you could hear the landing gears engaging from Maul’s ship. Kark. He was landing far too close for your liking. Your ship was still too far away for you to make it in time, without running into the Sith Lord first. You glanced around quickly, attempting to find some place to hide and quiet your Force signature. There wasn’t much to work with. You had parked your ship in a clearing, so the closer you got to it the more exposed you were. You could turn back now and deal with the locals, but in this condition they would easily overtake you. You don’t think they would actually harm you, just run you off and then they’d have to deal with Maul which was not an option. You could turn back to where you left that bounty hunter, but that was another battle you didn’t have time for. Kriff. Now what. 

You didn’t get a chance to make much of a decision as you spotted a dark figure approaching rapidly. You muttered a cursed and darted off, parallel to your ship in the hopes of circling back around if you were able to lose Maul in the forest. With any luck you could deal with two problems at once. Leading Maul to that bounty hunter would be enough of a distraction for them both for you to head back to your ship and take off. If you didn’t bleed out first. You kept pushing your pain away mentally, which helped in the short term, it would make things worse when you finally got medical attention. But it was better than dying for now. You ignored the warm trickle of blood that went down your side, in favor of booking it through the trees and brush. 

You suddenly heard a shout behind you, Maul had spotted you. Kriff. This wasn’t ideal. You weren’t as deep into the woods as you needed to be to double back on your trail and send him astray. The shout distracted you enough that a rather loopy tree root grabbed your boot unexpectedly and you face planted into the dirt, hard. Dank ferrik. This day was going right to Hoth in a Tauntaun. You shoved your hands into the mud to lift yourself but you could already hear Maul’s footfalls approaching. You needed to make a stand and hope for the best. You took three painful breaths and shoved yourself up, twirling around just in time to bring your lightsaber up, blocking the angry red blade that swung down at you. 

“What are you doing here?” Maul glared at you with bared teeth, his yellow eyes blazing. 

“I could ask you the same.” You pushed out a kick, forcing him to take a few steps back. You moved back as well, giving yourself some space to figure something out while you distracted the Sith with questions. 

“What are you looking for here, Maul?” You slowly began moving to the side, encouraging him to circle as well. He took the bait, it was so easy to get him monologuing. 

“That’s none of your concern, Jedi.” He said it with a snarl, but honestly at this point it didn’t scare you anymore. 

“Could it be a certain Jedi artifact? A prized Force item?” His eyes darted to the side, and you knew you had caught him. You let out a pained chuckle. “That’s what I thought.” 

The implication that you already had the item would have worked if you hadn’t needed to shake your head to clear your vision. Blackness kept creeping in your periphery, which you knew meant you didn’t have much time to make a run for it before you collapsed. The energy you pulled from the Force only lasted so long until you were too exhausted to maintain it. Maul seemed to catch on that something was wrong. He raised a tattooed brow, his eyes looking you up and down as he assessed what he could of you through the mud coating your body. He paused he steps, his eyes piercing. 

“You don’t have it.” He extinguished his saber, clipping it to his belt. You blinked rapidly. Why had he done that? This didn’t make sense. Normally he would attempt to get the answers out of you in a fight. It surprised you enough that you extinguished your own saber, swaying slightly as you tried several times to clip it to your own belt. 

Your vision was starting to darken faster than you could blink it away. Before you realized what was happening the world was tilting, yourbody seemingly falling in slow motion to the muddy terrain again. Quicker than you could have imagined, strong arms grabbed you and held you up. 

“What happened?” Maul’s voice was closer than it had ever been to you, and softer than you had ever heard him. He tilted you so that you could face him. You wished your vision would clear up enough so you could actually see his face. 

“It’s nothing.” You didn’t want him to find the temple, and possibly hurt the locals. They didn’t deserve it. Whatever he wanted with the artifact could wait. He needed a Jedi to open up the temple anyway, it wouldn’t work for him.Strong fingers gripped your chin, tilting you so you were facing him directly. Something pushed through you, the Force but stranger than how it normally felt to you. Some of the exhaustion ebbed away and you could see him clearly. 

“I’m not going to ask again.” Maul whispered darkly, clearly implying that he would find out for himself if you didn’t tell him. You swallowed, suddenly remembering that he most likely wouldn’t hesitate to invade your mind if he wanted to. Your mouth was dryer than expected. 

“B- Bounty hunter. Electro staff. Got me in the ribs.” He removed his hand from your chin, trailing it lightly at your side and moving your torn robes out of the way so that he could inspect the wound. His eyes narrowed. 

“How long have you been running?” He demanded, his voice with an unexpected steely edge. 

“Three..? Four hours?” 

He met your eyes again. There was something in his expression that you hadn’t seen before, and you wished you weren’t so kriffing exhausted so that you could figure it out. Whatever boost of energy he had sent toward you was waning already. He crouched, adjusting you slightly, before standing up again with you in his arms. 

“What—-“

“Be quiet.” 

Your jaw snapped shut with a click. Mostly out of surprise. Maul made his way carefully out of the denser part of the forest that you had lead him through. He made sure not to bump you into any of the branches of then surrounding trees, even though there had been plenty of times where he had been smacked with them himself. Before you realized it you were back to the clearing where you had left your ship. He had landed his own next to yours. You strained your neck muscles to look up at him again in confusion, and he met your gaze. 

“Sleep.”

And you did. 

——

You jolted awake, inhaling deeply, only remembering that you had been fighting Maul and your adrenaline skyrocketed. Looking around, you didn’t recognize the ship you were in. It was dimly lit and you were on the only cot available that you could see. You took a moment to take a few deep breaths, hoping to calm yourself down and reach out with your awareness. It took several moments, but you finally had a grasp on the Force around you and found that you were the only one you could detect in the immediate vicinity. That calmed you down. Wherever you were, Maul currently wasn’t a threat. But, your brows scrunched together as you tried to piece together where you were. You remembered the Sith... carrying you? That couldn’t be right. He could be merciful with you at times, but he had never been outright kind. He must have realized that he needed you for the temple and decided to keep you alive for now. 

Your hand felt down your side, and you were surprised to find that your ribs had been wrapped in bandages, with a few bacta patches held down in the wrappings on top of your wound. Why would he waste bacta on you? You checked the blast burn on your leg, to find that that had also been cleaned and wrapped. Well this was... unexpected. You reached out within the Force again, half tempted to make a run for your ship and make your escape. For some reason, the temptation to wait for Maul and ask him what was going on pulled enough at you that you were actually considering staying on, what you could only assume was, his ship. 

You didn’t have time to make your choice, as you felt the mans presence approaching. His own existence within the Force reached for you, and you met it with a mentally solid wall. He was probably just seeing if you were still there, but you didn’t want to take any chances. You felt what you imagined to be his hand pull away from the mental wall, and back to his own person. The hydraulics of the ships ramp hissed, lowering the stairs as your heart raced at the prospected of being on Maul’s ship while the man was on it himself. You had never even dreamed of breaking into his ship when you had had plenty of chances in the past. Kriff. What were you supposed to do? You noticed now that you weren’t even in your robes, just your undergarments due to where the injuries had been so that he could take care of them. You didn’t even have the energy to process Maul actually caring for your wounds. 

Maul paused at the opening to the room you were in, a hand placed lightly on the door frame, as if hesitant to approach. 

“He is no longer a problem.”

Your brain wildly went through your last interaction to make sense of this before you remembered: the bounty hunter. Oh. You knew better than to ask him any further questions. You were just glad he didn’t go after the people in the temple, actually wait did he go near—-

“I did not go near the... people at your temple.” His voice was even and calm as he correctly read your annoyed facial expression. “I did not look into your mind, you are practically shouting at me.” He tapped his temple to indicate that he meant mentally. 

“Thank you, I think.” 

Maul nodded and finally entered the room— his room. Oh, kriff. You were in his bedroom. How were you ever going to explain this if you made it out of here alive? Maul’s expression twitched slightly and you finally made an effort to prevent yourself from projecting. You weren’t even sure why you were being so loud, something you had had a control on since you were a Padawan. Normally you had a derasteel defense in his presence. He sat at the edge of the cot, and you could feel your panic rising again. 

“Please. Calm yourself. I promise you that I will do you no harm while we are on this planet or in my ship.” You met his gaze with a doubtful expression. What good was the word of a man who had tried to kill you so many times?

“Am I free to go?” The Sith sighed, clearly annoyed that you didn’t understand the situation yet. 

“You are not my prisoner, but I doubt that you’ll be able to walk just yet.” He pointed toward the injury on your leg. While it was feeling better than before, you knew you had pulled too much from the Force earlier and wouldn’t be able to use it until you had completely rested. Your hands gripped at your shorts in discomfort. 

“Where are my clothes?” Maul nodded towards a pile of cloth on a side table that turned out to be your destroyed robes. Between the blaster fire, electro staff, branches from the forest, and Maker knows what else they had already been a disaster. You could also tell that there were some areas that had been cut, you glanced up at him when your hands held up an obvious gash that has now made your robes impossible to wear again. The Sith shrugged one shoulder. 

“It was the fastest way to get to your injuries.”

“Ah... I don’t have any clothing then.” There was a beat of silence that passed between the two of you as Maul appeared to realize he destroyed your only clothing. He stood and paused for a moment, clearly debating something, before taking off his outer most robe and holding it out to you. You blinked stupidly at it for a beat before taking it. 

“Get some rest.” Maul left without another word, allowing you to put the robe on without his gaze on you. His robe. It was still warm, you noticed as you tied it around your body. You pushed a funny feeling away from yourself, it reminded you oddly of enjoyment which you did not think was appropriate in this moment. You quickly got into the bed again, it’s thin sheet pulled back up over you.

What in Makers name was going on?

——

Somehow, you did end up sleeping for awhile. You weren’t sure how much time had passed, your communicator was no where to be found. You were slightly worried that he had destroyed it but for some reason you had a feeling that he did not. You stretched your aching muscles, adjusting on the cot to sit properly so that you could meditate. You needed to ease the strain on your connection to the Force, and meditating was the best way to do so. It was easy to fall into a light trance, the routine having been built up every day for just over two decades. You felt for your deep connection to the Force, the one the flowed through you the most. It felt tired, and strained. You gave it extra attention, soothing it back to normal. How you imagined the Force always felt best as a more materialistic feeling, like you were rubbing sore muscles or putting a salve on to a burn. It seemed to help guide you as you reaffirmed those connections to the Force back to the Light. It was something you would do so naturally now that when everything felt right again, you let your mind wander. 

Maul was still nearby. This shouldn’t have surprised you, considering that you were on his ship. But he seemed to be confusing you at every turn today. You reached out tentatively, mostly wanted to alert him of your wakefulness so he wasn’t surprised when you left the ship. You pulled your touch from his metaphorical shoulder the moment he became aware of it and opened your eyes. He had left the ramp open, clearly pushing the confirmation that he did not hold you as his prisoner. You guessed it was time to just walk out and deal with whatever else today held in store for you. Your wounds ached a bit, but not nearly as bad as things could have been if Maul had not tended to them. That fact still bounced around in your brain, attempting to make any sense of it. 

The sun on this planet had just started to set as you made your way down the ramp, and you held an arm up to block the glare from your eyes. The black arm of the robe you wore, his robe, entered your vision and you paused. You had forgotten you were wearing them. They were soft, and well worn. You swallowed before continuing down the ramp and into the grassy field. Luckily, your ship was still there. It had crossed your mind that the Sith had made no promises of keeping your ship safe, even if he had claimed not to harm you while on the planet. You still weren’t sure you could trust the man at his word. He sat in the grass with his back towards you. The slow rise and fall of his chest indicated that he must have been meditating as well when you had reached out to him. The gesture was not lost on you that he was leaving himself exposed, having allowed you to keep you lightsaber and casually keeping his back to you. 

“We will be going back to the temple, and getting that artifact.” Maul turned slightly, his yellow eyes bright against his tattooed skin. “You will open the path for me.”

“What makes you think that?” You asked, defiant as ever. He blinked once and turned to regard you fully. 

“You will.” He stood from position, calling his lightsaber up to his palm from the ground. “Let’s go.” 

He walked in the direct of the temple, not once looking back to see if you had followed. He knew you would. You couldn’t help yourself. How did he expect you to open the path into the temple by yourself? Like most of the more ancient temples, this one required two Jedi, typically a Master and Apprentice, together to open the way. You had only come to this planet to see if the temple still existed, and if possible retrieved the artificial. The Council knew very well that if it were still intact you’d be calling immediately for assistance. They were expecting it. They even had several Knights and a few Masters in the same system waiting to fly over. 

Getting near the temple was easier this time around, with Maul as an extra look out, it was easy to avoid the patrols that the villagers had started since your arrival. They must have met the bounty hunter as well before Maul had ... dealt with him, since they seemed particular on edge. The sun set as they approached the walkways to the chamber below ground. None of the people had come this far around, more concerned with their main settlement in the temples upper levels and gardens. Once you opened the door, if you could open the door alone, they would be alerted to your presence. Making it much harder to escape. But that would be a problem for later. For now, your thoughts filled with your confused questions as you followed silently behind Maul. Why exactly did he expect you to follow his every command, and why the kriff were you listening? It didn’t feel like he had any sort of mind control over you, you just ... trusted him. Trust was perhaps too strong of a word. You knew him well enough to know his typical behavior was not one to betray your agreement in this moment. 

The path down to the inner parts of the temple was beautiful. The planets native plant species had crawled through the stone surfaces, placing vines along the ancient cracked stone walls. Flowers bloomed in various spots, with a light amount of moss coating each stone. You ran your hand lightly against the wall, admiring the natural progression of life taking over and bringing the building back to nature. The Force was peaceful here. No wonder the locals wanted to make this their home. You already felt stronger than before, the energy surrounding you seemingly giving you a boost. Your eyes trailed back to the figure in front of you, standing out amongst the shades of green and brown with his dark clothing and red skin. Even though he didn’t match the color of the world around him, Maul seemed to fit in here as much as you did. You pondered for a moment what that could mean, before focusing back on the crumbling walkway. 

“Here.” Maul paused in front of a large door, with intricate swirled carved into it. The design made a trail towards two worn stones embedded in the wall on either side of it. This must be how you’d open it. Your hand automatically reached for the stone on the right, you could see the outline that handprints over the centuries had worn into it. You pulled away a moment before you actually touched the stone, realizing what you had been doing and looking down slightly embarrassed. You guessed he was right after all, you would open the way without much convincing. You looked over at Maul, attempting to school your face into a neutral expression. 

A smile spread across his face, you couldn’t remember ever seeing him smile without looking smug before. He placed his left hand to the stone on his side, looking at you expectantly. You doubted this would work for him, since he wasn’t a Jedi. You hesitant only for a moment before placing your right hand onto your stone. The moment your skin connected with the surface, the Force flooded into you. It was like it had always been waiting for you, it filled you completely. A calming energy that brought a small smile to your face. 

You turned to see how Maul was handling this flooding of Light, and found him already looking at you. He held his other hand out expectantly, the request for your own clear in his eyes. You reached out slowly, pressing your palm against his own hesitantly. His fingers pushed between your own and interlaced them. Instantly you felt power rush through your arm, the connection the doorway had requested made. You could see bright auras around both of your bodies. Maul’s burned hot and bright, like yellow fire from his core spreading out to all of his limbs. Looking down at yourself you saw a deep, ocean blue at your stomach. The blue paled in color as it reached your arms but it was still strong. Your eyes drifted toward your laced fingers, surprised to see that his fiery yellow and your cool blue blending into a vibrant green in both of your hands. Thin lines of yellow slowly etched their way down your arm, while your own blue seemed to flow into his. 

You blinked slightly at this, but were too caught up in the Force swirling through you to really put a pin into any feeling of concern over it. Your focused turned back toward the doorway, and you could feel it asking you to push it open. It was easy with the immense amount of power that you were drawing from. The building itself had enough that you were almost sure you could have done this alone, but Maul’s own energy made it so much easier. The door pulled itself apart and into the walls on either side easily, but the building shook slightly. That would not go unnoticed. The connection to the temple pulled away, and your hand dropped from the stone in front of you. You noticed after a moment that your hand was still laced with Maul’s own, and pulled away slightly. He let you go, and for some reason you mourned the loss of the connection. Your body shivered slightly, the feeling of excess energy still in your veins. 

“Let’s go.” You stepped through the doorway, and the room took your breath away. It was a large dome adorn with carvings that covered it completely. You could tell this room was made for movement, and most likely had more intricate designs hidden behind several of the layers as some of the walls had holes cut into them to help with the movement of the walls themselves. You touched the rough stone in adoration. The artwork was beautiful. Most of it had been worn away with time so none of the colors or stonework shown as brightly as you knew they would have when they were made. 

You rubbed the pad of your finger gently at a smooth tile in a mosaic, removing the layer of dirt built up upon it and revealing a white tile. This temple reminded you of ones you had visited with your Master when you were just a Padawan. Mace Windu had taken you to many of the Jedi’s temples, teaching you their history and significance to the Order. As well as their presence in the Force. This temple felt older than any of the others you had been to, but you could tell that it was the same design. You turned to look at the center of the room and found a slightly raised platform, in front of which was a small podium that no doubt held the artifact that you were searching for. 

You had walked halfway across the room toward the platform before you realized Maul had not followed you inside. His gaze slowly made its way across the room, taking in the artwork that covered the dome before finally landing on you. You looked at him quizzically before pointing to the platform, where Mace had always meditated and opened the podium to reveal what artifacts were stored at each temple. Maul shook his head before looking down the hallway again. You could hear the locals approaching. His hand reached for his lightsaber as your heart leapt into your throat. 

“Don’t!” You didn’t mean to throw up your hands up so dramatically, nor did you mean to still his arm in place with the Force. He simply leveled you with a look, clearly telling you to release him. 

“Please. Don’t hurt them.” You waited a beat before releasing his arm, he flexed the fingers of his right hand, looking at them with an odd expression on his face before meeting your eyes again. 

“Get what we came for.” He made no move to grab his lightsaber again, but backed away from the entrance so that he had a better view down the hall. You gulped uncomfortably. You had never actually opened one of these yourself, Mace knew how much you enjoyed the artwork and always let you watch it move as he focused his energy to rotate the walls in the correct sequence to open the podium. 

You walked to the small platform, brushing some dust away from it before stepping up. Some heat rushed to your face for a moment, a small amount of possible embarrassment if you couldn’t actually make this work. Especially after everything Maul had done to ensure that you made it this far. How would he react if he found out you weren’t as experienced as he thought you were? You squashed the feeling down and you sat to meditate. You weren’t entirely sure what you needed to do, but somehow you thought the temple may guide you through it as it had with the doorway. You sucked in a deep breath and exhaled, clearing out the air from your lungs and correcting your posture so that you could empty your mind. 

“I am one with the Force, the Force is one with me.” You muttered under your breath, hoping that Maul would not hear the mantra you repeated to focus yourself when you were stressed. You closed your eyes and reached out around you. Just as you thought, the temple reached back with metaphorically open arms. Was it really as simple as a connection? Loud scraping sounds around you confirmed that yes, it really was. You opened your eyes a small amount to marvel at the stone that had been unseen for who knows how long. Many parts still held their colorful tiles and paint, bringing a smile to your face. You closed your eyes again and held on to your thread of connection with the temple, waiting patiently as the room settled into its new position. You could hear the mechanism in the podium in front of you start to creak open. You took another deep breath, willing yourself the patience to finish the ritual before seeking out the artifact. 

It didn’t take long. The walls settled with a thump and an echo, loud enough that if the townspeople hadn’t heard you opening the door before, they certainly heard you now. You stood quickly, looking into the new opening of the podium. The artifact was a small, round pendent on a fine chain. You didn’t have time to think about what it could be, you just slipped it over your head and checked the crevices of its hiding place to see if anything else was in there. The pendent was its only occupant. You looked up at the new and beautiful art in front of you, bright colors shining in the thin strips of sunlight that came through the openings in the dome. You smiled before turning and jogging out. 

Maul was waiting by the door, his arm outstretched to his side but his blazing yellow eyes focused on your neck. Or more specifically, the artifact around your neck. As you entered the hall you saw dozens of the locals frozen in place. Maul had done as you asked, for now. Before he could think to use them to his advantage and bargain their lives for the pendent, you jogged down the hall. 

“Let’s go!” Shockingly, he followed. You passed by the people, as still as statues, without meeting their eyes. You felt slightly ashamed at breaking into the place they called home, even if it was part of your own people’s culture. As soon as you got toward the outskirts of the settlement, you paused, waiting for Maul to catch up with you. His focus was still behind him, keeping the people in their place as you both made your escape. 

“Let them go. They won’t bother us this far out.” Maul nodded once and lowered his hand. You worried for only a moment that he had killed them, before you saw several confused forms walking out of the tunnel you had emerged from just a moment ago. You smiled brightly at the Sith before walking back toward your ships. 

The path back was... awkward. You had both reached the moment when his promise to leave you unharmed was reaching its end. Soon you would be leaving the planet, and he had only ensured your safety on its surface and in his ship. You were certainly not going to go with him in his ship, but you were also now realizing that he wanted this artifact as well and you seriously doubted he would just let you walk away with it. Your anxious thoughts crowded you until you had finally reached your ship. 

You stopped and turned to face him. You were about to question him before you realized he had not stopped walking, and was now so close if you breathed in too deeply you would be touching him. His hand reached up for the pendent, which you immediately grabbed with your own hand, covering it completely. 

“I can’t let you have this and you promised not to harm me while we are here.” You had intended to sound confident, but it mostly came out as a panicked rambling. His hand paused and changed directions, choosing to grip your jaw firmly and tilt your face up to his. 

“So I did.” The intensity of his eyes on you sent a chill through your body. You knew very well what he was capable of, but you also hoped that he would be a man of his word. His thumb traced along your jawbone before trailing it down your throat. Where his hand had held you felt hot, like he had burned you. His finger pulled at the fabric of his own robe around your form. There was something in his expression that said he wanted to say something, but you weren’t sure what. He sighed and rubbed the fabric between his fingers. 

“Don’t lose this.” His hand dropped away and he walked up to his ship, the ramp already meeting him so he could immediately board. He did not turn around or give any indication of a farewell. He just closed the ramp and took off into the atmosphere, leaving you alone and confused. 

You were filled with panic for a moment, realizing you still did not have your comm. You hurriedly opened your ships ramp and rushed toward the cockpit. On top of the counsel you found your communicator, still in one piece, waiting for you. You were relieved, and slightly concerned that he had been in your ship. You clipped back onto your arm and dialed out to the Council. 

“I have the artifact.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our Reader speaks with the Council, and their former Master, about recent events. We then go to our next adventure, where a certain Sith Lord is already waiting.

Detailing your report to the Council with your findings had gone over rather well, better than you had expected. You only answered their questions, and happened to leave out the fact that you met a certain Sith Lord while you were there. Technically, you could have opened the temple by yourself so you chose not to explain how you did so. Only that the temple had welcomed you with open arms, which it had. You handed over the artifact to the Council for them to examine, still mildly curious as to what it was. Mace raised it into his palm and closed his eyes as it floated in this hand. It opened in the same fashion that the temple had, revealing a crystal in it’s center. A Kyber Crystal. What had Maul wanted with a Kyber Crystal?

“This belonged to a former Jedi, we will have to do more research to figure out who.” Mace met your eyes and offered a rare smile. “Thank you, my former Padawan. You have done well.” 

You could feel yourself practically glowing as you left the chamber, it was rare that Mace verbally expressed his praise in front of others. You had always felt his affirmation through your bond when you had been training with him, which had helped when you were younger and had had difficulty understanding minor changes in expressions. You were grateful for the few days of rest they had granted you, but you were more excited to get started on your next mission. 

Since you had always expressed a great interest in ancient history, the council allowed you to seek out rumors and follow old texts to locations of long lost locations for the Jedi. It was wonderful, and allowed you a certain amount of freedom. It wasn’t as if you were trapped by the Order, but most of the time the Knights were too restless to have more than a short leash from their old Masters. Mostly to prevent certain rambunctious classmates from causing trouble about the galaxy. Mace trusted you, and you would never want to lose that trust. He was a good Master, he gave you your space and never asked questions he knew you didn’t want to answer unless it was important. You were surprised that he didn’t ask you for more details about your mission, considering that they normally had to cut you off from your extensive explanations of your findings. Often asking you to type them up for archives instead. It wasn’t that they were not interested, it was just that you could go on for hours unless someone stopped you. 

You had a chance to clean yourself up a bit before heading to the gardens to type up your report. It was easier for you to think when you were sitting in some of the meditation gardens. You rinsed your face and looked at your reflection in the mirror. You looked a bit pale still, from the blood loss, but you looked better than you did when you had arrived. Mace had practically thrown you to the Healers. The bacta patches from Maul had done a good job, but the energy from the temple had been better. The Healers just advised you to rest and hydrate and sent you on your way. Your tattoos stood out against your skin, their dark colors more vivid than usual. You blinked for a moment, thinking back to that odd interaction you had had with Maul before he abruptly left. He had traced his thumb down from below your ear down your neck, following the exact swirling line of your coming of age tattoo. Your face heated at the thought. The tattoos hadn’t been there for long, you received them when you were Knighted. You had only started encountering Maul after you had gotten them, he had never seen you without them. 

You shook your head slightly, pulling yourself out of that train of thought. It wasn’t important that Maul had traced your tattoo. Was it? It had been surprising to say the least. His culture had their own tradition of tattoos, so perhaps he had been interested in the significance… you blinked several times. Why were you thinking about this? You needed to write up your report. 

You would most likely spend the rest of your day typing up your account, and you wondered if you should include any mentions of a certain Sith Lord. You were still lost in thought on your way to the gardens when a nudge in your mind paused you. You turned to find Mace walking towards you. You smiled at him.

“Hello, Master.”

He returned your smile, and motioned for you to keep walking so that the two of you were side by side. It was a comfortable silence for sometime, you never minded the silence with him. He was kind and understanding to you. You knew that others found him hard to understand, but you had spent years with the man and understood that he did not reveal much but felt his emotions very deeply. 

“I was surprised at your… succinct account today.” Ah, so he had noticed. You subtly glanced around you for a moment, and found that the two of you were alone in this particular hall.

“There were.. some aspects of my trip that I’m not sure the Council would fully understand.” Mace raised his eyebrows but stayed silent, allowing you to think through how you were going to word this. “I met a certain force user who I have encountered several times before.”

Mace turned his head fully to look at you now. He knows about your interactions with Maul, and how they had turned from life or death bouts to what felt like sparring sessions.

“I can only assume that you had another duel?” Even Mace knew that duel wasn’t the best word for it, but what else do you call a fight between a Jedi and a Sith?

“It was more than that. He came to fight me at first, and when he discovered that I was severely injured he, “ you paused, remembering that you had neglected to mention how severe your injuries had been before and felt the annoyed gaze your old Master sent your way. “He helped me. I passed out and he actually cared for my wounds before helping me to the temple.” Mace stopped in his tracks at this, the surprise clear on his face to you, but to others his face did not reveal much.

“He helped you?” You nodded.

“I’m just as confused as you are.” Mace hummed to himself and continued walking with you. 

“This is indeed a surprise. Do you know why he was on the planet?”

“He was also coming for the artifact, the Kyber crystal.” Mace nodded in understanding.

“Of course, any old Jedi artifact would be of interest to the Sith. We will discover its origins soon enough and perhaps this will give us the answer for his intentions in retrieving it.” You gave him a nod in understanding. You both walked for a few moments in silence. You considered telling him about how Maul had helped you open the door, and how his force signature had flowed through you and intertwined with your own. Your left hand could still feel its presence, and you were sure if you could see your aura again that it would glow faintly green. You wondered if the lines of yellow still ran up your arm like they felt they did. 

“Is something the matter?” Mace gave you one of his looks that said he knew you weren’t telling him something, but you weren’t entirely ready to deal with the implications of your connection to Maul just yet.

“Nothing for now, I’ll let you know if it becomes a problem.” Mace nodded and placed a warm hand on your shoulder.

“I know you’ll seek help if you need it. I’m proud of the person you have become. I’ll be here if you need me, my old Padawan.”

———

The planet you were on now was worse than Illium. As much as you disliked the cold, you did love the snow. But not like this. Not an entire ice planet. What had these old force users been thinking? Making a temple in the middle of a mountain on a frozen ball of ice in space. Your ship had been able to land rather close to your destination, which was a small comfort. But you still had to cross huge snow drifts and iced over lakes which were only vaguely stable. The water was drinkable here due to the planet’s volcanic activity keeping it from freezing over completely, but it’s distance from its sun caused it to be far from warm. This meant for you that you could fall through thin ice at any moment if you didn’t watch yourself. You decided to keep to the large snow banks. It would be a difficult journey but at least you wouldn’t be suddenly plunged into the freezing water. You hadn’t given much of the planet a glance from above, mostly overwhelmed by the amount of snow and where you could safely land. There had been a few other spots that would have sufficed, but this one allowed an excellent holo of the mountain with the entrance to the temple easily spotted at the space your ship was at. 

After taking a few more holos, you bundled up as many layers as you could. You could keep yourself warm with the Force, but you didn’t want to waste your energy in case there was anything hiding inside the mountain. You had been granted a slightly bigger ship now that you had had several successful missions and brought back artifacts from them all to further the Jedi’s research. You were a trusted adventurer now, which caused a small ball of joy in the pit of your stomach to form and never fully go away. The ship now had a small room for you to sleep in, as well as a closet to store extra clothing. You could go on extended expeditions with the extra room for supplies. Hidden in the back of the closet was the black outer robe Maul had lent you. You blinked at the thought. Had you really borrowed his robe? Did he expect it back? He had told you not to lose it, but he could have just been being dramatic. 

You considered for a moment using it as one of your layers on this planet. It was an outer robe after all, it would work well between your own robes and your jacket. It’s not like anyone was here to see you in it, nor would they really understand whose it was unless you explained it to them. With a small amount of hesitance you added his robe to your layers. It was just as comfortable as you remember from the last time you wore it, and now you noticed that it smelled… warm. Almost leathery. He did wear a leather band around his waist with his belt, which explained that scent. You couldn’t exactly place what he smelled like, it was a variety of scents unknown to you. You only knew that you enjoyed it. You paused at that revelation. Did you … like how a Sith Lord smelled? You quickly shoved that thought down and pulled on your cold weather jacket. 

Your snowshoes helped a great deal as you trekked through the huge snow dunes. You attempted to make as straight of a path as possible toward the mountain. It wasn’t too far, but the snow made it difficult to get there quickly. You kept your eyes down in front of you, making sure the snow in front of you was steady. You had to circle around several places that had crumpled inward, indicating that a crevice may lie beneath it. It wasn’t until you had reached the rocky ground of the mountain that you realized you weren’t alone.

Maul stood at the entrance to the cave that the temple was located in, head tilted upward as he observed the architecture of the building. He turned, bright yellow eyes fixated on you. How did he know you’d be here? Wait. He wasn’t here for you. You knew he was looking for the artifacts as well, you just didn’t think he’d pick this one, being a Zabrak and all. You knew they didn’t do well in freezing temperatures if they were exposed for too long. Regardless of his twin hearts and higher body temperature than your own human form, he wouldn’t do well if his temperature dropped too low. 

He waited for you to reach the same level he was on, his stance clearly indicating that he would be fighting you for this temple. You made a face, this wasn’t the most ideal location. Before you made your final steps onto the flatter stone surface, you ignited your green blade, telling him you were ready. He rushed toward you, his bright red double bladed saber screeching to life. He wasn’t wearing as many layers as you were, and had the advantage of being slightly more nimble than you. You blocked his strikes as best as you could, leading him away from the entrance to the temple. You didn’t want your fighting to damage anything that may be important to your research. He seemed annoyed at your lack of offense, opting to throw you with the Force several yards away from him. This gave you a moment to quickly take off your outer coat and kick off the snow shoes. He paused, an odd look on his face, before continuing his approach. You took advantage of this distraction and swept your leg under his own as you aimed for his waist with your blade. He could either block your saber or jump away from your legs, and he opted for your saber. He was down for only a moment before leaping up and bringing down a high strike towards your head. You blocked it with some difficulty, his height giving him the advantage. You decided to take a leaf from his book and reach out into the force for his form, yanking him hard and throwing him into the snow banks. He fell far deeper than you had expected into the depth of the bank. You took a moment to catch your breath, waiting for the Sith to burst out. You kept waiting.

He wasn’t coming out. Snow had fallen over the hole his form had made in the bank that you threw him into. Why wasn’t he coming out? Your heart sped up slightly. Osik. You now remembered that there was a lake just in front of the entrance to the cave. Had you thrown him into the freezing water? You extinguished your saber, running to where he had fallen. You attempted to move the snow by hand, but quickly realized it wouldn’t be fast enough, especially if he had fallen into the freezing waters below. You closed your eyes, spreading your fingers wide in front of you and shoving the snow to either side. Opening your eyes you saw the broken ice before you, but no sign of Maul. Panic rose in you, you felt around in the force for his signature. It was faint, but close. Your left hand automatically reached out and pulled him toward you. His limp body appeared before you and you dragged him out as quickly as possible. You hadn’t meant to actually hurt him, not really. You enjoyed your spars and were now caught in the fear that you may actually lose him. The logical side of your brain questioned your actions here, you were saving a Sith Lord? Someone who had killed many Jedi, including the Master of one of your teachers, Obi-Wan Kenobi? By all rights he deserved death. But you couldn’t bring yourself to be the one to finally end him.

You pulled his limp body toward the entrance of the temple, away from the wind and snow. Shucking off his own robe that you wore, you dried his body off quickly. Taking his right hand in your left, you shoved warmth into him, aided by the Force. You knew it wouldn’t be enough but it gave you some time to take off his soaking clothes and planned to replace them with your own outer robe. It would be a little funny if you weren’t so worried about him not making it. You pulled off his soaking tunic, and noted that he did not have on nearly enough layers for this planet. What had he expected? That it would get warmer inside the temple? You realized he wasn’t wearing an outer robe. You blinked for a moment, realizing that he had literally given you his only outer robe the last time you had seen him. No wonder he didn’t want you to lose it. You made a face and apologized quietly as you removed his under layers, sure that the Sith Lord would not have appreciated being undressed by some Jedi. Pulling his trousers off his legs reminded you of the battle he had had with Master Kenobi. His legs from the mid thigh down were replaced with metal ones. Cybernetics that connected to his own internal nervous system. You could only imagine how cold these made his real legs. You shook out his outer robe, only slightly damp from you pushing the excess water off of him with it, and wrapped it around his legs. You pulled your own cold weather coat over and pushed it under him, making sure that none of his skin was touching the freezing rocks under him.

Kark. You weren’t sure what to do now. You’d have no problem holding a fellow Jedi close to you to warm them up from freezing temperatures, but with Maul it felt like an invasion of his privacy. You hesitated for another moment before taking off your robes, shuddering as the cold air reached your skin. You stole yourself for another moment, realizing this may just be a horrible mistake if he wakes up any time soon, before laying down next to him and pulling his cold body to your bare chest. You pulled your own robes over the two of you like a blanket, hoping this would help. Your own body temperature wouldn’t be enough to warm him back up to what was normal for his species. You rubbed your hands up and down his arms and back, hoping that it would help but also dreading the idea of him waking up to find you like this. Hopefully you could warm him enough for him to be safe, and then wrap him up in his own robes and …. what would you do then? You couldn’t just leave him half frozen on an ice planet. You hadn’t seen his ship when you were landing either, so you may need to carry him back to your own. You weren’t looking forward to that trip. 

After some time, you noticed that the man wasn’t nearly as cold as he had been when you first pulled him from the ice. You considered the risks of hauling him back to your ship. He would be exposed again, but when they reached the ship you could turn the heaters up as warm as they could go. But you were still risking exposure, and if you misstepped on your way back, you may both be doomed to an icy death. You look towards the temple again, considering the chances of it being on top of a hot spring. Most of the lakes supported life the deeper they went, due to the volcanic activity of the planet. Odds were that the ancient Force users had not built their temple to stay cold. They would have wanted it to be habitable, right? Reaching out through the Force, you couldn’t detect any significant signs of life, but you did sense some smaller critters that may be surviving due to the temple’s warmth. You figured there should be water in there as well, hopefully even a hot spring. You weighed your options, finally deciding to wrap Maul up with your robes and enter the temple yourself, hoping to find something inside that would assist. 

You carefully pulled yourself away from Maul’s still chilled body. You could feel both of his hearts beating, albeit slowly than you’d prefer, which was a good sign. You tucked your robes around his form, shivering slightly as a cold gust of wind came into the cave against your bare back. The temple's entrance was simply a large, round stone that needed to be pushed aside to gain access. You grabbed a part of it that had a design cut into it large enough to be a handhold and pulled, your muscles straining as it slowly creaked and groaned out of the position it had been resting it. Once it started rolling, it quickly moved out of the way and into its slot within the temple’s wall. A few steps inside revealed that the temple was in fact, much warmer than the cave. You searched quickly for any sort of rooms that may contain the source of the heat, most of which turned out to be empty, save for a few interesting items that you made a mental note to investigate later. The important task now was to get Maul warm. There was a room a few steps down, with a furry animal skin somehow still in great shape over the opening. When you moved it aside you found a misty, delightfully warm room that contained a hot spring. Brilliant. The animal skin had stayed hydrated and functional due to the humidity in the room, and there were carved stone benches that could easily fit a certain Sith Lord waiting outside. 

You rushed back out, picking up Maul, robes and all. You left the entrance to the temple just in case he woke up in a foul mood so that you could make a quick get away. You half considered just placing him directly into the hot springs, but you weren’t sure if he would react badly, having almost drowned not too long ago. The stone bench would suffice. You shivered again, your body affected by the sudden temperature changes as you brought Maul into the warmth. You didn’t dare risk removing your robes from him, but there was enough room on the bench for you to lay next to him again. You sighed as you considered your options, you could get into the hot springs and risk needing to run for your life while soaking wet. Or you could crawl into the bundle of robes that encompassed a literal Sith Lord just so that you could warm up. At least if you were touching him you would be alerted immediately when he woke up. Reluctantly, you moved his body closer to the wall and scooted yourself in. You had to lay on your side so you had enough room, and the arm around his waist was simply so that you didn’t fall off. It absolutely wasn’t to keep track of his breathing, just in case. 

Frowning to yourself, you focused on his signature in the force. It had dimmed from the brightly burning yellow you had last seen him with. If you concentrated enough, you could just make out the auras surrounding the two of you. You weren’t particularly good at this trick, and had intended on asking Mace for some help with it before you realized your left hand may still have traces of Maul’s force energy in it. Glancing down at your hand, you saw that you were correct. Although it had faded slightly, there were traces of yellow streaks down your left arm and a pool of a soft green in your hand. The blue from your natural Force signature was slowly erasing it, but not completely. You pulled Maul’s right hand up, cradling it with your two hands. His was still glowing green, but his hadn’t faded nearly as much as yours had. You had put yours out of your mind, hoping that it would go away if you ignored it. The aura in his hand looked as if he had… focused on it. Kept the connection. A soft blue streak still ran down the underside of his arm. Why had he kept it? You would have thought he would have erased the signature as soon as he had had the chance. 

An idea popped into your brain. Maybe if you connected your Force signatures again, it would help him recover? At the very least you could try to wake him. You pressed the palm of your left hand to his right, interlacing the two was a bit difficult with his limp fingers. Closing your eyes, you concentrated on the feeling of his signature, specifically where your palms met. It was like there was an unlocked door that just needed to be opened. You pushed at it lightly with your mind, but it didn’t budge. You panicked slightly, this needed to work. It had to work. You clambered on top of him, legs straddling his waist so you could focus better in an upright position. You held his hand to his chest with your hand pressing down, hoping a direct push to his hearts might help.

“Let me in.” You muttered as the door remained closed. You shifted in annoyance, pushing mentally at the door again this time with more force. “Let me in, you di’kut.” 

You tilted forward slightly, pressing your forehead to his own, careful to avoid his horns. It put you closer than you had ever imagined being to the man but if it would save his life you were willing to take the chance. You pushed at the bond again in three places. His palm, his hearts, and his mind. It finally opened and a golden light rushed into you. You jerked back in surprise, attempting to remove yourself from your position on top of him. His other hand suddenly grabbed at your side, keeping you in place. He blinked several times before finally opening his eyes and taking in your look of quiet panic.

“What,” his voice was gravelly and you immediately pushed away the fluttering in your stomach at the sound. “Are you doing?” 

“You’re awake!” You smiled nervously. Hoping to deflect enough for him to forget that you two were fighting earlier, aiming to get back to that odd truce you had made the last time you saw him.

“It’s not like you gave me a choice.” He looked at you oddly. Something had changed and you weren’t entirely sure what. Until a mental nudge made your eyes go wide.

“Oh.” The door had been the only thing between the two of you and a true Force bond, one that had started forming the moment he had helped you open that temple door. The door had been created by Maul, which is why he had focused on his connection. He had created the only thinking blocking the true bond from forming, and you had just kicked it down. Maul made a somewhat dissatisfied noise. You looked down at your entwined hands, the green in both of your palms was much brighter now, with bright yellow lines trailing up your arm. You hadn’t seen such an obvious Force bond before. Most of the Master and Apprentice bonds were mental links, and you hadn’t ever searched for their physical manifestation in the Force before. But this, this was so clear and strong. Perhaps due to the ancient energy of the temple that had flooded you both at the time at its beginning.

“Sorry I-“ Maul’s hand gripped at your side tightly, preventing you from a rambling apology.

“It’s done.” He lifted his right arm and examined the bright blue streak that glowed in his aura down to his shoulder. It took much less effort to see the auras now that they were connected. You worried for a moment that Maul would be angry with you but it was quickly swatted away by his own mental connection with you. Hm. This could be problematic. You were so caught up in your own mind at the implications of what you had done, without the permission of the other person, that you didn’t notice that Maul had taken your left hand in his own. He was examining the bond at its source, but it felt so intimate, especially given your position on top of him, that you slammed your mental barriers down a little too obviously. He glanced at you and huffed out a laugh. Heat immediately crawled up your neck and spread across your cheeks in embarrassment. Maul had clearly caught wind of where your thoughts had been leading before you had shut him out. You were still seated on top of him and weren’t entirely sure how to get out of the situation without being incredibly awkward about it. Maul seemed to sense this and gave you the best excuse you could have asked for.

“Get up, and let me get dressed.” You happily obliged, forgetting that you yourself were stripped down to just your pants. You sat down on the ground in front of him, unsure of where to put yourself. Maul sat up and stretched his arms, pausing when his eyes landed on his outer robe still around his legs.

“You kept it?” Why did he sound so surprised? You raised an eyebrow at him.

“You told me not to lose it.” Maul hummed, fingers rubbing the edge of his robes and he looked at you thoughtfully. Whatever he saw, he kept to himself as he pulled on his clothing. You looked away, heat rising to your face again. Your robes were suddenly thrown at your head, and you looked up at him again and still didn’t think he wore enough clothing.

“Put this on.” You stood and handed him your outer robe. It was slightly too big for your frame, so it might actually fit him. He stared at it for a moment before accepting it, layering it between his tunic and his own robe. You pushed away the feeling that fluttered in your stomach at seeing him in your robe. You needed to focus and get back to your task and explore the remains of this temple. Staring blankly at the Sith Lord in front of you who wore your robe so casually was not helping. 

You cleared your throat, tying your cold weather coat around your waist. You wouldn’t need it inside the temple, with how well it kept the warmth in. Just outside of the room was an opening with a stone staircase, leading downward into the dark. You glanced back at Maul, who gestured with his hand for you to lead the way. 

Taking a few steps down, you turned a corner to find the path leading into a massive cavern. The stone stairwell was not as stable as it had been at the height of this temple's use, but it wrapped around a curved wall that would eventually lead to an outcropping with a raised platform. As well as what looked like some ruins of decorative fountains. The rest of the cavern was so empty and large that it swallowed the sounds of your boots crunching the crumbling stairs. Looking down, you could only see darkness that seemed to go on forever. You carefully made your way down the stairs, on hand on the wall to steady yourself. The back of your neck felt hot, as you remembered that Maul was just behind you. You weren’t sure why you felt so nervous around him now, but you kept a firm lock on your mental walls just in case. The Force bond had been accidental, and now your mind was so caught up with how you were going to deal with it you didn’t realize the steps in front of you were crumbling away until you started to fall.

“Kriff—“ The stone under the hand you had had on the wall escaped your grasp. There was nothing for you to hold on to, you made to lean forward and grab the stairs in front of you, but you were falling too fast. A firm hand grasped your arm and dragged you backward, before another hand pushed you against the wall. Maul leaned up against you, pressing his weight onto you as he kept you secure next to him. He was looking at the stairs before him, eyes narrowing as he assessed the stability of the stone ahead. You could easily make the jump across with the Force, but the landing might destroy the remaining stairs in the process. 

“Are you always this close to dying at any given moment?” Maul turned his gaze to you. You were about to give an aggravated defense of your person with a glare already drilling into him, but he was suddenly so close to you. His right arm still pinned yours to the wall, his left slowly wrapped around your waist. He wasn’t just holding you still, he was completely leaning into you so that he was pressed up against you from head to toe. Your free hand held onto his arm, unsure of where to put it, and you attempted not to feel up his bicep as you held on. 

You cleared your throat awkwardly, your face flushing. You glanced around looking for a quick way out of this situation before you did something entirely stupid. Above you, a ledge stuck out enough to be able to grip safely if you could only remove yourself from whatever was happening right now. You had almost put an entire idea together when you felt his fingers on your back press into slightly. Okay, you really needed to get out of this. You quickly let go of his arm and pointed upwards. 

“We can use the ledge.” It came out a lot quieter than planned, but you felt like your normal speaking voice might be too loud right now. Maul looked up to the ledge, his eyes following it to the landing. He hummed and released you. You weren’t entirely sure why you considered it a loss, but you turned and jumped up to grab the ledge. You had plenty of space to hang on, it would just be a test of your hands stamina. You started moving, without looking to see if Maul followed. You wanted to get as far away as you could, just in case you changed your mind on the very unJedi like thoughts that has been crowding your mind only moments ago. 

From the higher perspective, you saw that more of the stairs had fallen away over time, rendering the staircase useless to you. The chasm below was terrifying, but it filled you with awe. This place must have been filled with water at some point, which would have been beautiful. You could see the signs of old plant growth in the walls, long dead due to the lack of sufficient moisture. Your hand ached slightly, but you were halfway to your destination. You turned back to see where Maul was, and he seemed focused on his hand placement to the ledge. You had forgotten that his hands were a bit bigger than yours, and that his claws were capable of biting into the rock face. This was a lot easier for him than it was for you. He was still several feet behind you, you had successfully put some distance between you. What had that been, against the wall? It had certainly felt like more than just making sure that you didn’t fall again. But… no you weren’t entirely sure he thought of you in… that way. You checked your mental barrier just in case, and felt what seemed to be like a probe from Maul to see if they were still up. 

You made a face and as you went to swat at it, you lost your grip with your right hand. You gasped as all of your weight pulled at the few fingers you had on the ledge. Your hands were sweaty, you realized you wouldn’t be able to hold on and panicked slightly as you tried to regain your grip. Maul called out to you, but whatever he said was muted by the buzzing in your ears. You felt a tug on your feet, unfamiliar, pulling you down. It was like the Force was yanking you into the abyss. You looked at Maul again, but he was closing the distance as fast as he could. There was a tug again, stronger this time, and it pulled you off the ledge. You gasped in surprise, as you locked eyes with Maul and fell. His hand was stretched out, reaching for you. His mouth open, teeth bared, screaming your name. 

The darkness took you. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I can think of as I write this is 🎶take me to shurch (sith church)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Into the UNKNOOOWWWNNNN

You blinked. You were staring up at the same cavern you had fallen in, but now it was filled with a soft light that reflected across the rock walls. You moved your arms to find that you appear to be floating in water, even though you aren’t able to actually feel it surrounding you. You shift around, moving until you can swim properly. It feels incredibly odd, as if you’re shifting through air, but you figure it out eventually. You look around to see that you’re in the same cavern that you had entered with Maul, but now it was filled with life and light. Long, stretching plant vines draped over the edges of the upper terrace, their leaves large and green. The fountains were whole and working, with bright sparkling water erupting from intricately carved spouts. Lanterns emitting a soft, clear glow floated everywhere, occasionally bumping softly into stone and changing directions. 

The biggest surprise was all of the people. At least ten within your limited visual range, all dressed in light brown robes. You smiled widely, realizing what must have happened. The Force had been so deeply connected with this area that when you fell, it caught you and was now showing you a vision of the temple in all its glory. You cast some affection and thankfulness into the Force, hoping it understood your meaning. It usually did. 

You swam, in the best sense of the word since you couldn’t feel the water, over to the first terrace that was now exactly at the water's level instead of hanging out in the open air. You lifted yourself onto it, and made to wipe the excess water off of you, only to find yourself completely dry. The residents of the temple did not notice you, and you moved easily around them. Your eyes flickered around at the sights. Colorful, detailed paintings adorned the walls depicting meditation scenes and creatures you knew to have a strong connection with the force. A large Loth Wolf was centered right at your height, it’s eyes seeming to bore into you. You shook a slightly uneasy feeling from your body, turning away to look at the fountains again. 

A hooded person who had previously been gazing into a pool of water on a pedestal stared at you with surprise on their face. So, not so invisible after all. They opened their mouth and seemed to call out to you, but you heard nothing. You gestured to your ears, hoping they would understand. The person nodded before waving you over, motioning to the pool of water before them. You walked closer and they lowered their hood, revealing a beautiful Mirialan. She had long, dark hair that framed the only visible green skin from her robes. Her black facial tattoos stood out boldly on her cheek bones, the length of her nose, and down her chin. The Mirialan shared a similar tradition to your own with tattooing personal achievements on prominent areas of the face and neck. She smiled brightly at you, spreading her hand across the bowl before her, encouraging you to look. You saw your own limp body laying in the temple, almost exactly where you were standing now. Maul kneeled before you, hands at your neck, searching for a pulse. You looked back up at her in surprise. She was apparently seeing the future, and your present. 

She held up a finger, drawing it across the water's surface. The scene rippled and changed before you. Now Maul faced the other way, head bowed down as he was on one knee. You could see the flickering image of a holo call before him. You could only make out a dark robe that covered the person, but you had a solid guess that Maul was reporting to his Master. The Mirialan wrapped a hand around your wrist, her touch and grip suddenly powerful on your arm. She brought your hand to the rim of the bowl and you were able to hear everything. 

“Good work, my Apprentice. Finally, your past may be put to rest. With the death of this annoyance of a Knight, we may move forward with our next goal. Lay the trap for Windu and report to me only after you have killed him. Don’t disappointment me again with your lengthy performance of dispensing this filth.” A gnarled finger pointed accusingly at your limp form. 

“Yes, my Master.” Maul’s voice was submissive and pitched lower than you typically heard it. You wanted to hear more but the woman’s finger grazed across the water’s surface again. 

It flashed now to a scene you remembered all too well, one of your first official missions with Master Windu. The two of you had been sent to mediate peace negotiations between two planets that had been at war for the past decade. Both sides had been more intent on keeping the fighting going then fixing any sort of problems that had started it in the first place. “Negotiations were short.” as Master Obi-Wan would joke when these situations would happen. You had run quickly behind your Master, careful to avoid the blaster fire that cascaded between the building of the city. You had spotted a figure standing slightly out of the way behind a speeder, but you could tell that they would be hit by the blaster shots soon if they didn’t move. You had run over to them, snatching at their waist just in time to avoid the vehicle they had been next to exploding. You had then pulled them behind a large shipping crate that happened to be nearby. 

“You need to take cover, there’s a war going on! Hide here and let us handle it.” You had looked down at the red and black coloring of a, now very familiar, Zabrak face before you watched yourself run back to Mace. You watched as a young Maul stood facing your direction as you ran away. Had you saved his life all those years ago? You hadn’t even recognized him when you met him again as a Sith. Of course you didn’t, you hardly expect random citizens to end up being the dreaded Sith Lords that most thought only existed in Jedi tales to scare younglings. 

The Mirialan’s hand gripped your wrist again, pulling you closer to the vast amount of water that took up the cavern and motioned you to jump back in. You hesitated for a moment, really considering if it was safe to go back. Was Maul still there, speaking to his Master? You considered fleetingly of his own safety if you were discovered to still be alive by the other Sith Lord, but cast that aside as you remembered the plot to murder the main father figure you’ve had in your life. Your eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. Before you could make a decision, the Mirialan pulled you hard and threw you into the water herself. You had just enough time to orient yourself and see her waving happily and you sank back into the water again.

This time around, you were able to see yourself move between the planes of reality. It was as simple as swimming down towards your own version of the temple. You could see from a distance that Maul was still kneeling, facing away from your limp form, but the projection of his Master was gone. The call must have only just ended. You didn’t have long to act, you needed to get back into your body quickly before he thought to dispose of it. For lack of a better term, you plunged yourself back into your body. It was like jumping into the icy water, you sucked into a ragged breath, coughing as if you had been underwater this entire time. You jumped to your feet, shakily. The world spun a bit around you but you were able to keep yourself steady. Maul had turned to look at you, his eyes wide in shock. Your hand went automatically to your hip, but your lightsaber wasn’t there. You glanced quickly around and spotted in on the ground next to the Sith. You called it to you with an outstretched hand and ignited it immediately.

“I won’t give you the chance,” your voice was hoarse, and you still struggled to breath a bit but it was becoming easier. “I’ll die before I let you reach my Master.” Your grip on your saber felt unsteady, and you held it tighter. Maul sighed and stood, turning towards you almost reluctantly. As if you were something he had thought was done with, only to return and pester him.

“That would be the plan.” He ignited his saber and it crackled loudly in the cavern. You noted that he only had the one side of his blade out, and you hoped to keep track of that. 

You stole yourself and lunged at him, your bright green saber sweeping diagonally toward his shoulder. He blocked it, of course. Your arms still felt shaky and you were mostly going through the motions of the fight. Maul seemed to realize this and you felt a tick of annoyance from him. Kriff, your bond had fully opened between the two of you when you had been in your force vision. You furrowed your brow and attempted to shut your mental barrier, but Maul didn’t give you the chance. He swung at you quickly, forcing your reflexes into action. You blocked his attacks over and over and you were finally starting to feel your strength come back as the adrenaline coursed through your veins. You kicked out when you saw an opening, hitting him right where you knew his metal legs met with skin. He snarled in annoyance and pain, giving you some time to back out of his attacks and make some of your own. You were making some success by keeping him on the defense, attempting to back him into a corner. You were gaining confidence in your moves, and you felt like your normal self again, but fueled by some righteous fury as you were fighting for your former Master’s life. The Sith fought back with a dark look on his face, pushing your steps back toward the cavern wall. He made an elaborate twirl of his saber, which he did often when he felt he had an advantage over his opponent. You stretched a hand out to your side and pulled some rubble off of the stairs and threw it at him. 

It distracted him long enough for you to step into his guard, kicking into the same spot you had before. Maul stumbled slightly, but raised his arm up just in time to block your strike. You smirked slightly and saw your advantage, even if the two of you had ended up with the wall behind you instead of him. You locked eyes with him over the glare of your sabers, distracted enough by the battle that you still hadn’t fully closed the connection between the two of you. 

A wave of relief that wasn’t your own suddenly flowed through you, it surprised you enough that when Maul flicked his wrist a certain way your saber flew out of your hands, clattering on the ground. Even he looked surprised that the move had worked. You took a step back as he approached you, you knew you were cornered. The wall was too close behind you, and there really wasn’t any easy way to run. The stairs were ruined, and you weren’t sure if the ledge would really support anyone’s weight if you weren’t careful about it. You raised your chin defiantly, meeting his eyes squarely. But, he deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it back onto his belt. You could feel his conflicted feelings as you attempted to pull that barrier between your minds down again, but you couldn’t seem to slam it shut like you had before. He was so close to you now. What was he playing at? Did he expect you to back yourself into a corner? You’d fight him hand to hand if you had to, you hadn’t pulled anything yet because you… well actually you weren’t exactly sure why you weren’t attacking him yet. Your ears seemed to roar with your heavy breathing, and it crowded your thoughts. His yellow eyes bored into your own, his presence suddenly seeming to envelope your physical and mental form.

His hand moved up toward you, and you were surprised that you didn’t move away. His fingers brushed against the shortly cut sides of your hair, making you shiver. It cupped the back of your neck and he brought your forehead to his. He sighed, deeply, confusing you even further than before. What exactly was happening here? Your thoughts were racing and you could practically feel his annoyance at your lack of understanding before you felt the finalization of a decision from him, your bond seemed to pulse with calm. He was trying to calm you down, but you still felt some hesitation on his part. You were about to ask him what he wanted when you felt his fingers flex against your neck. 

His lips suddenly closed the distance between the two of you, warm lips pressing roughly against your own. You lost yourself in it, your hand immediately going to the back of his head and pulling him closer. You heard a muffled moan, and you honestly could not tell who it was from. Maul shifted his hand to your jaw, keeping your jaw tilted up to his as he practically devoured your mouth. His hot tongue ran across your lips, making you shiver as he chuckled darkly. He nipped at your bottom lip, and you let him into your mouth. His tongue against yours made your blood sing. Your legs felt weak, and you moaned as his arm moved to your waist, pulling you close. The stone wall was suddenly against your back as he pinned you against it. You automatically lifted yourself up and wrapped your legs around his waist, which caused a low noise in his throat that you could feel right down to your bones. His hand moved from your waist to your thigh, squeezing firmly. Your brain felt like mush, only capable of telling you to keep going. You both lost yourselves in each other’s mouths for.. you didn’t even know how long. You never wanted this feeling to end. You felt safe, and warm. His hold on you was firm and comforting, his lips hot on your skin as he kissed his way down your neck before coming back to your lips. 

The loud beeping of the comm on your wrist snapped you back into reality. You were making out with the Sith Lord who was trying to kill not only you, but your former Master. What the kriff were you thinking? You yanked yourself out of his grip, mildly surprised that he was letting you go so easily, even if you were still up against the wall. The hand that had held your leg up against him fell away quickly. It would be so simple for him to kill you now, you weren’t even armed, and he still had his saber attached to his hip. His hand lingered on your cheek before he took a step away from you. The moment was completely gone, and your comm was still beeping. 

You glanced down at your comm, noticing now just how long you had been out. Long enough to have missed multiple calls from Mace, Master Obi-Wan, some of your friends and classmates, and other council members. Your eyebrows raised in shock, and you glanced up at Maul for answers.

“It’s been hours.” He wasn’t looking at you, his eyes trailed along the carved patterns in the stone terraces. “I thought you were dead.”

You didn’t know what to say to that, so you said nothing. You kept one eye on Maul and another at clearing your notifications. You would have to deal with those later.

“I couldn’t feel you at all, yet the bond remained. I knew there must have been some way to bring you back to m—,” he paused at the sentence, as if realizing what he was saying only after the words had come out of his mouth. He looked down at his hand, which you could see still had the faint glow of green emanating from it. He looked back at you, his face defeated.

“I don’t suppose I can ask you not to kill him, can I?” Your voice was quiet against the silence that engulfed the cavern. He shook his head no, and you could tell he was fighting himself over what to say.

“You ask for your old Master’s safety but not your own?” 

“I can take care of myself.” It came out more confident than it felt, and a corner of Maul’s mouth lifted slightly as he huffed at you.

“I know you can.”

————-

Your journey back to Courscant was a blur. You had sent out a mass message to everyone who had contacted you, indicating that you were on your way back. You had purposefully neglected to answer anyone’s questions as to why you had simply vanished for at least four standard hours. You knew Mace must have felt your presence in the force disappear. Although your training bond had been dissolved years ago, it was still easier for the two of you to find each other in the force since you knew exactly who you were looking for. You held your face in your hands in your chair, the glow of hyperspace filled the cockpit. You were exhausted, and had no way of explaining what exactly had happened. You barely understood it yourself. The vision had been confusing, and whatever had just happened with Maul was on an entirely new level in comparison. 

You typed out a message to Mace, asking to meet with him alone when you arrived. You didn’t think you could handle speaking to the entire council just yet, and at least speaking with your former Master would help you pull your thoughts together. There were some things you’d prefer to only discuss with him, and you knew he would be one of the few people to truly understand the odd relationship you had with a Sith Lord. You laughed at yourself at your choice of words. You didn’t know what to call what was happening between you and Maul. It wasn’t exactly a friendship, and you knew he would do what he had to do if he came across Mace on the battlefield. But you also knew that he would stay away, just because you had asked him to. You still didn’t understand why he would listen to you, but you knew he had told the truth when he said that he wouldn’t actively seek out your former Master. 

It occurred to you suddenly that Maul’s own Master assumed you were still dead, and you quickly called Mace on a secure line.

“Padawan! Are you alright? I thought you said we would meet privately when you landed.” His visual concern surprised you, but then you realized he was most likely alone.

“Master, you need to erase all records of my survival. I’ll explain when I get there, but the Council needs to act like I did not make it out of that temple.” Your former Master nodded, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“Tell me who you have contacted and I’ll make the arrangements.”

Luckily, it was a short list. You knew Mace would take care of it quickly. He also sent you landing coordinates, and you pinged him when you were finally within range. He met you in a secluded hanger near the Jedi Temple, one mostly unused by the temple's occupants due to its distance from the rest of the active parts of the large building. It was one you knew that the Shadows used often, having seen Quinlan Vos emerge from it several times when he supposedly wasn’t on a mission. It’s regular sized doorway into the small hanger was another part of its charm, it made it difficult to transport anything that couldn’t easily be carried by hand into the space. 

When you stepped out of your ship, Mace was already walking towards you. He stopped in his tracks when he laid his eyes on you, visible surprise and confusion crossing his features. Kriff. You knew how adept he was at seeing Force signatures, but you had never considered that he was always seeing them. You had assumed he just had an easier time focusing on them than you did. When he reached you, he lifted your left hand closer for him to inspect.

“You have a lot of explaining to do.” This probably the most serious he had ever sounded with you, including the time that you accidentally blew up his favorite speeder when you were still just a youngling. You smiled meekly up at him, and felt yourself becoming overwhelmed with the urge to cry. It felt a lot like when you were a Padawan and one of the Healers would ask if you were alright. Mace pulled you into a rare hug, and you returned it tightly, sniffing slightly against his robes.

“It’s alright, little one. We will figure this out.” 

——

By the time you had finished explaining everything, Mace had begun to pace the small distance of your room. It didn’t seem upset at you, more like he was working through a difficult physics question and needed to expend the excess energy his brain was churning up. You had left out some of the more… incriminating details of events. You didn’t exactly want to explain to Mace how you had spent a good deal of time pushed up against a wall making out with a Sith Lord. It wasn’t exactly the Jedi way, as far as you were aware of. Mace walked back over to you to inspect your hand again, which you lifted for him gladly.

“I have never seen a bond like this before. I’ll admit that none of us have much experience in this area short of the training bonds we form and dissolve. This feels….” he paused and rotated your arm, eyes following the bright, jagged yellow lines that trailed up your arm. “More permanent. If the temple in the forest was the reason for its beginning, it is completely different from how we normally form a bond.” 

He seemed to contemplate this for a moment, before sitting down on the ground, motioning you to sit with him and meditate. You smiled and compiled. Meditating had always eased your mind, and it was comforting to do so in your old Master’s presence again. The two of you sat across from each other, your breathing in sync, and you felt him reach out towards you in the force. You let him in, carefully hiding a few memories from him that you weren’t quite ready for him to be aware of just yet. He had always respected your boundaries, and he had taught you how to hide memories himself when you were younger. His trust in you was almost overwhelming, and you felt like you didn’t deserve it now. You felt his cool, purple presence ease the feeling out of your emotions, assisting you in casting it out to the Force. You sighed deeply. His focus turned to the bond that manifested itself in your arm, and you could feel the yellow presence of Maul rejecting Mace’s touch instantly. You weren’t exactly surprised, but it made you wonder if Maul could feel what you were doing in this moment. Mace hummed in front of you, bringing your focus back to the room.

“It certainly feels…. different.” Mace smiled at you. He could tell you were exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, but he knew you would still present to the Council if he asked. “Get some rest. You’re supposed to be dead, remember?” He winked at you before leaving you to your thoughts. 

——

It did not take long for you to sleep, you barely removed your tunic before collapsing onto your sleeping mat. It was the most comfortable it had ever felt, you buried your face into it and were out like a light. You slept soundly, without any dreams until you were suddenly awake, sat bolt right on your cot. You blinked and looked around the room, wondering what had awoken you. The dim light filtering through your window indicated it was still in the wee hours of dawn. It took you a few more moments before you spotted him.

Maul was sitting on your meditation pillow next to your bed. Your panic immediately overflowed within you, making to stand through your tangle of clothing.

“What are you doing here?” You whispered harshly, throwing your tunic off of you. You looked at it again, remembering only now that Maul still had your outer robes. You glanced at his form in the dark, seeing that he still wore it. 

“I am not actually here.” He held his hand out into the small streams of light from your window. While it seemed real enough to you, you saw that he cast no shadow on the ground when he should have. Oh. He was projecting himself. How was he doing that so easily when you knew him to be so far away? He gave you a pointed look, and your sleepy mind connected the dots. Your force bond, right. You didn’t know what to say. He just… looked at you. It was as if seeing you with his own eyes had reassured him of your continued existence. 

“The news of your death has spread. It was my fault, apparently.” His voice held no malice, but you still felt a blush rise to your cheeks.

“Sorry, it seemed like the easiest way to,” you held your tongue as you almost said ‘to keep you safe’ and changed course. “To explain what had happened and keep it believable.” You looked away and gripped at the blanket on your bed nervously. You knew that his Master would kill him if the story had been that Maul had not killed you himself. You had been surprised that the Council had agreed to it, but you weren’t one to involve yourself in their plans unless asked. You glanced back over at him, and found that he still held his gaze on you.

“Thank you.” He leaned forward, his hand outstretched. You knew he was only a protection, but the ghostly touch of his hand gently stroking your cheek softly still surprised you. You had an impulse to lean into the touch, but you quickly reprimanded yourself over it. This man was supposed to kill you, and your master if he could. You shouldn’t feel like you could trust him. 

“You have questions. Ask them.” Maul pulled his hand away, and settled himself against the wall, waiting. 

“Why didn’t you kill me?” 

“Which time?” Maul chuckled, his eyes flashing with humor. Right, you did need to be more specific here. You had been fighting with the man for over two years. 

“That time when your Master called you.” Maul stiffened slightly at the mention of his Master, as if he was pushing a reflexive response down and away. He thought for a moment, clearly recalling the memory to give you a detailed answer. 

“That was the last time I fought you without knowing who you were, other than a pest that continued to interrupt my plans. My Master had just discovered when we had first met, and decided to inform me of my debt to you.” He wouldn’t meet your eyes for a moment, clearly considering if he should tell you more. “After he reminded me of that time you had saved my life, my Master decided that I should kill you to ‘once and for all put my past behind me.’” He rolled his eyes as he said this last past. 

“But you were about to kill me, why would he stop you just to tell you who I was?” He stared at you again, as if this was the most basic question in the Galaxy. 

“Because he wanted to hurt me. How could I kill someone without repaying the debt I owed? It would… make my connection to the force unbalanced.” He seemed uncomfortable with this line of questioning and you considered dropping it. 

“So, you’re saying all of those other fights you just let me win?” You smiled at the annoyed glare he sent your way. “I’m just saying if you’re the one who ran away—“

“I did not run away! I let you live.” He folded his arms across his chest. You chuckled lightly and let your line of questioning go. 

“Where are you?” This was the only question you could think of, and Maul considered you for a moment before closing his eyes. As he concentrated, more of his surroundings appeared around him. Wherever he was, it was up against a wall that was filled with climbing vines. He sat on the ground that spouted weeds through the cracks in the floor, and you could almost feel a cool breeze on your face that told you the building he was in wasn’t whole. 

“I’m at our next temple.”

“Where is it?” You attempted to tilt your head and see more of his surroundings, but it quickly faded from view. 

“Come and find me.” He vanished in an instant. You felt exhausted again and laid back down, sleep taking you quickly. 

When you woke again in the morning, you couldn’t remember most of your conversation and filed it away as an odd dream. Even if you did have a nagging feeling that you should be on your way somewhere. 

——

You spent the next two months in hiding. The Council even held a fake funeral for you, which made you feel a bit bad. There were some people who genuinely enjoyed talking to who now assumed you were dead. There was no more going out to local restaurants whenever you wanted a bite to eat. You were restricted to the temples grounds and only really moved about at night. You had even changed rooms, just so that you wouldn’t be recognized by the normal guard rotation. Your rooms were now farther away from everything, on a side of the temple that hadn’t been used much in the last hundred years. There just weren’t as many Jedi as there used to be. It meant that your rooms were bigger, and you had more time to yourself. But, you weren’t exactly free to do what you wanted. 

You spent most of your time researching. You had an urge to keep searching for more ancient Jedi temples. You had quite a collection of datapads and flimsi stacked around the small table in your kitchenette. You even had a few actual books, so old that you had to get Mace to sign them out for you, since you were technically dead and all. 

After weeks of research, you had finally settled on a forest moon located just inside the outer rim and close enough to a hyperspace lane that the journey wouldn’t take forever. You smiled to yourself, happy to be planning a trip to a nicer planet for once. You had had your fill of freezing temperatures after your last excursion. From what you could gather from recent information on the plant, it was temperate and the local wildlife was very docile. You thought vaguely to that half remembered dream you had of Maul, where he had mentioned being at another temple. Was this it? You shook your head slightly. No. That was ridiculous. 

You glanced down at your left hand, considering the faint green of your combined force signature swirled in your palm. You clenched your hand into a fist, pushing a mental nudge through it, although you seriously doubted if it worked. 

_ Found you _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Force bonds make brain go bbrrrr


End file.
